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Miles of tire tracks left behind by someone out for a joyride mark the latest act of vandalism in California's Death Valley National Park.

The tracks in the hottest, driest place on earth extend for about 10 miles, including looping patterns likely created by doughnuts from the sport utility vehicle's tires, on the fragile surface of the park's "Racetrack Playa." The scars will likely remain on the surface for years because exposed loose silt can be blown away by strong winds, causing a depression in the dry soil.

The remote dry lake is known for unusual tracks, but not the man-made kind.

In 2014, scientists unraveled the mystery behind the Playa's "moving rocks," which appeared to leave jagged trails in the surface. The researchers found that large sheets of ice were pushed by winds into the rocks, acting as a sail that moved the rocks across the lake bed.

WATCH: Vandalism at Devils Hole in Death Valley

Surveillance video shows three shotgun-wielding men breaking into Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park on April 30, 2016. One of them entered the ancient waters where an endangered fish was later found dead. (Published Monday, May 9, 2016)

But there was no mystery behind the SUV tire tracks, discovered in August by a park ranger. A GPS rendering of the route shows the SUV driver traveled erratically back and forth along the lake bed, made several sharp turns and turned a few doughnuts.

"We are hopeful that someone will be charged in this case," Abby Wines, a park spokeswoman, told the Los Angeles Times, adding that investigators have a "strong lead."